Category: Gamespot

Splatoon 2, Nintendo’s Switch-exclusive shooter, has changed quite a bit since launch, and it’s now evolved once again. Update 2.1.0 is out now, and it adds a new game mode called Clam Blitz, among other things.

Clam Blitz is a new way to play in which both teams need to throw as many Clams as possible into the other side’s basket. You’ll first need to break their basket open by forming a Power Clam, made by securing 10 standard Clams at once. You then hurl the Power Clam at the other team’s basket to force it open, allowing you to throw in both Power Clams (which are worth 20 points) and normal clams (three points). Outside of Clam Blitz, a bunch of weapons have been tweaked and more bugs have been fixed. See the full patch notes at the bottom of this article, via Nintendo.

This latest patch follows update 2.0, which launched in November. That update added new gear, increased the level cap, and introduced a much-requested feature: the ability to change weapons between battles without needing to leave the lobby. It also added a new map for use in Salmon Run and tweaked a lot of the game’s balancing. Read more about that update here.

Splatoon 2 was included in our five best Switch games of the year. For lots more of our end-of-year coverage, check out our Best of 2017 hub.

Splatoon 2 Version 2.1.0 Patch Notes

Multiplayer

• Clam Blitz will now appear in Ranked and League Battles. After you’ve played it once, it will also be selectable in Private Battles.
• Fixed an issue in which a player submerged in a wall or a thin ground surface would take damage from the opposite side of the terrain.
• Fixed an issue in which a player behind a Splash Wall or a launched Brella would take damage from the opposite side if the distance between the player and the Splash Wall or Brella was close.
• Fixed an issue on Sturgeon Shipyard in which if a certain wall was hit with a bomb, ink would splash onto a nearby wall that players were occasionally unable to submerge into.
• Fixed an issue in Splat Zones on Moray Towers in which the border indicating the Zone area was incorrect for part of the Zone.
• Fixed an issue on Manta Maria in which, if a player did a Splashdown on a specific place, they would be treated as out of bounds after landing and be killed.
• Fixed an issue in Turf War on Manta Maria in which the area beneath the thick pillars was inkable, and was counted as part of the turf.
• Fixed an issue in Tower Control on Manta Maria in which players were able to jump from a high spot near the center of the stage to a part of the opponents’ base.
• Fixed an issue on Snapper Canal in which bombs would disappear without exploding when coming into contact with certain walls.
• Fixed an issue on Snapper Canal in which, depending on the mode, the area beneath obstacles placed near the center was inkable, was counted as part of the turf, and couldn’t be reclaimed in Splat Zones.
• Fixed an issue on Blackbelly Skatepark in which players could jump higher than normal near the start point and go over certain obstacles.
• Fixed an issue on Blackbelly Skatepark in which if a certain wall was hit with a bomb, ink would splash onto a nearby wall that players were occasionally unable to submerge into.
• Fixed an issue in Tower Control on Blackbelly Skatepark in which players could climb over a wall not intended to be climbed over by jumping from the top of a tower at the right moment.
• Fixed an issue on MakoMart in which if a certain wall was hit with a bomb, ink would splash onto a nearby wall that players were occasionally unable to submerge into.
• Fixed an issue on MakoMart in which a certain railing could be seen through by pulling the camera close to it.
• Slightly adjusted the tower path in Tower Control on MakoMart in order to fix a rare issue in which the player could be sandwiched between the tower and terrain, causing them to be pushed inside the terrain.
• Fixed a rare issue in which, when the player does a Splashdown near a tower, they could pass through the terrain and fall out of the stage.
• Fixed an issue in which, if the player closed their umbrella the moment that a bomb exploded, neither the umbrella nor the player would take damage.
• Fixed a rare issue in which two Ink Storm clouds would be generated when a player directly hit a Splash Wall or Brella with an Ink Storm, depending on how it was hit.
• Fixed an issue in which, when a player using the Inkjet touches water and is forcibly returned to their original place, they would be treated as if drowning and be killed, depending on the place.
• Fixed an issue in which the camera would abruptly move if the player did a Splashdown near some fences in places like Kelp Dome.
• Fixed an issue during Splatfests on some stages in which it was difficult to distinguish the color of ink due to in-stage lighting.
• Specifications for some of the main weapons and specials have been changed. Click here for details
• Specifications for the terrain or placement of objects in some stages have been changed. Click here for details

Salmon Run

• • Fixed an issue on Salmonid Smokeyard in which players could get sandwiched between the terrain and fences if they become a squid on top of certain fences that appear at low tide.
  • Fixed an issue in which, if one player disconnected immediately after putting a Golden Egg in the container, the total number of Golden Eggs would be tallied incorrectly on the remaining players’ screens.
  • Fixed an issue in which, when damage was done to a Scrapper with the explosion from defeating a Steelhead or bombs bounced back from a Drizzler, whether or not the Scrapper was defeated would be displayed inconsistently on the other players’ screens.
  • Fixed an issue in which, despite a Chinook holding a box was defeated, the box would still be displayed on other players’ screens, and Chums would appear from an invisible box.

Story Mode

• Fixed an issue in which, if the player shot the Hero Splatling while jumping on a Ride Rail, the weapon would behave abnormally and prevent the player from attacking until becoming a squid.

Spectator Mode

• Adjusted the order of display for the guide button for changing perspective and the mark indicating the player holding the Rainmaker.
• Fixed an issue in which the color of Bravo team’s Ink Mines would show up as Alpha team’s color.
• Fixed an issue in which the icon for Ink Mines wouldn’t show up properly when having switched between players.
• When focused on a given player, their opponents’ signals (“C’mon!”, “Booyah!”, etc.) are no longer displayed.
• Unified the direction of the top-down camera and turf map on Kelp Dome.
• Adjusted the direction of the turf map on MakoMart to display the Alpha team’s start point on the left-hand side of the screen as like other maps.

Other Changes

• Fixed an issue in which after repeatedly winning in League Battle or Splatfest Battle (team), players would occasionally be disconnected after the battle results are recorded and before proceeding to the next battle.
• Fixed an issue in which, during Splatfests, Off the Hook would not move in the background after taking pictures with amiibo in places other than Inkopolis Square, and then returning to the Square.
• Fixed an issue in which, if the player did a Splashdown in the test firing area, targets on the other side of terrain would also take damage.

Weapons

Weapon	Adjustment
Blaster Custom Blaster Hero Blaster Replica	Reduced movement penalty after firing by 7/60 of a second.
Splat Dualies Enperry Splat Dualies Hero Dualie Replicas	Increased damage of a single shot from 28.0 to 30.0
Splat Brella Hero Brella Replica	Narrowed area painted with a single shot. Increased ink consumed for each shot by roughly 10%. Increased damage to the canopy from opponents’ Blaster-type weapons by roughly 38%. Increased damage to the canopy from opponents’ Charger-type weapons by roughly 50%.
Range Blaster	190 >200

Maps

Stage	Adjustment
Musselforge Fitness	Changed terrain in all Battle types. Adjusted placement of objects near the center of the map, and reduced obstacles. Adjusted placement of other miscellaneous objects.
Starfish Mainstage	Changed terrain in all Battle types. Adjusted placement of objects near the center of the map, and reduced obstacles. Added a slope going up to the stage. Adjusted placement of other miscellaneous objects.
Humpback Pump Track	Adjusted placement of objects in Tower Control. Greatly adjusted the path of the tower. Added Inkrail from each team’s base toward the center. Additionally, adjusted placement of things such as obstacles.
Inkblot Art Academy	Adjusted placement of objects in Rainmaker. Added platforms and a slope leading up to the center from the open spaces on the left and right of the map. Increased size of the boxes used to climb into the enemy base from the center of the stage, and adjusted the look to match the stage. Added inkable box for climbing to a high point in the opponents’ base, to the left when viewed from your own base. Adjusted the direction and position of the white objects in each base. Adjusted placement of objects in Tower Control. Added platforms and a slope leading up to the center from the open spaces on the left and right of the map.
Moray Towers	Changed terrain in all Battle types. Adjusted trajectory of the Inkrails that leads to the enemy base from both sides. Increased width of the platform beneath the Inkrails mentioned above. Adjusted placement of other miscellaneous objects. Outside of Splatfests, reduced brightness of the sun, and reduced the disparity in visibility between teams.
Port Mackerel	Adjusted placement of objects in Rainmaker. Adjusted shape of the sponges near the starting point. Set the area above certain containers near the center as Rainmaker-Free Zones.
Snapper Canal	Outside of Splatfests, reduced brightness of the sun, and reduced the disparity in visibility between teams.

Powered by WPeMatico

James Wan is the co-creator of no fewer than three hugely popular horror franchises–Saw, The Conjuring, and Insidious. Although the director has moved on to DC’s Aquaman, these series continue from strength-to-strength. Conjuring spinoff Annabelle: Creation was released in the summer, and The Nun follows next year, while while the latest Saw movie, Jigsaw, hit theaters back in October.

The fourth Insidious movie is also due in January. A first trailer for Insidious: The Last Key was released in September, and that’s now been joined by a new TV spot. It looks every bit as creepy as its predecessors–check it out below:

Lynn Shaye returns as paranormal investigator Dr. Elise Rainier, with a supporting cast that includes Leigh Whannell (Insidious), Angus Sampson (Fargo), Caitlin Gerard (The Social Network), and Bruce Davison (X-Men). Whannell, who created the series with Wan, has also written the screenplay. It’s directed by Adam Robitel (The Taking of Deborah Logan).

A synopsis for Insidious: The Last Key has also been released. It reads: “the creative minds behind the hit Insidious trilogy return for Insidious: The Last Key. In the supernatural thriller, which welcomes back franchise standout Lin Shaye as Dr. Elise Rainier, the brilliant parapsychologist faces her most fearsome and personal haunting yet: in her own family home.”

The first Insidious was directed by Wan and it released in 2011, making $97 million worldwide from a modest $1.5 million budget. The 2013 sequel was an even bigger hit, earning $161 million, while Insidious: Chapter 3, which made $112.9 million, arrived in 2015.

Powered by WPeMatico

As promised, a new Destiny 2 update has been released following the latest batch of server maintenance. Bungie has also shared the full patch notes for update 1.1.1.1, detailing everything that’s been changed or added to the game on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Most notably, the previously announced Masterworks weapons are now available for players to acquire.

Masterworks are essentially a variant of Legendary weapons with some new attributes. These generate Orbs after a multi-kill, track your kills, and have new stats that can be re-rolled, thereby providing players with reasons to not necessarily be content with the first one they get their hands on. Previously, duplicate weapons were largely useless, as there was nothing to distinguish one from another. You can check out a bunch of Masterworks weapons in our gallery.

Other significant additions in terms of content include changes to Xur’s inventory. Besides having one piece of Exotic armor for each class and an Exotic weapon, he’ll now sell an updated version of the Three of Coins consumable item. This works much more simply than the Destiny 1 version and provides a limited-time boost to the chance of Exotics dropping for you. He’ll also sell Fated Engrams, which provide players with an Exotic that they don’t already own.

In terms of Engram drops, you’ll now find Legendary and Exotics are handed out less frequently from Public Events. However, you’ll get your hands on them more often in Strikes and Crucible. Meanwhile, Legendary Engrams will provide multiple Legendary items less than before. And you now have the option to directly purchase Legendary gear from Faction vendors using Legendary shards and Faction Tokens.

Zavala, Shaxx, and Tess Everis all now sell a new type of Fireteam gift consumable item. This provides rewards to other players after completing an activity, depending on which version you buy. Zavala’s gives your Fireteam rewards after completing a Strike, while Shaxx’s gives everyone in the game a reward at the end of a Crucible match; both cost Legendary Shards. Tess offers two: one for Strikes and one for Crucible, each costing Bright Dust.

The bugged Exotic, Prometheus Lens, has now been fixed; it had been wreaking havoc in Crucible since Curse of Osiris’s release last week. Bungie didn’t specify what changes it made, only saying it had been “outputting too much damage too quickly.” It’s unclear if the patch will also impact the gun in PvE.

Other fixes of note include a bug that prevented HDR support from working on PS4 and PS4 Pro, and the Faction Rally Token exploit has been resolved. Players should also now always receive rewards when opening a chest, but they will be reduced when doing so quickly (rather than receiving nothing at all). Perhaps more significantly, it addresses recent criticism of locking content to non-DLC owners. As Bungie described earlier this week, the Prestige Leviathan Raid’s Power level requirement has returned to 300, allowing everyone to access it. (Rewards have changed accordingly; they’re no longer guaranteed 330 Power level items.) Additionally, Trials of the Nine will be open to all players, so long as the map during that particular instance is not from the DLC.

Update 1.1.1.1 is now available on all platforms, but it won’t be joined by a new event as expected. The first Faction Rally event of Season 2 has been delayed, with no new date set as of yet. You can see the full patch notes below.

Destiny 2 Update 1.1.1.1 Patch Notes

Activities

Leviathan Raid

• Brought the Prestige “Leviathan” raid back down to 300 Power, making it accessible to all players, regardless of Curse of Osiris ownership
• Adjusted Prestige difficulty rewards no longer grant guaranteed 330 Power items
• Adjusted the difficulty for the normal Calus encounter

Trials of the Nine

• Players who do not own Curse of Osiris may now access Trials of the Nine when a Destiny 2 launch map is featured

Trophies and Achievements

• Modified the achievement “The Prestige” and the associated trophy to remove the Nightfall component
  • This may now be completed, regardless of Curse of Osiris ownership, by completing the “Leviathan” raid on Prestige difficulty

General

Miscellaneous

• Fixed an issue impacting Power level progression from level 289 to 300 for players who do not own Curse of Osiris
• Fixed an issue that would prompt a Curse of Osiris purchase menu when players were attempting to acquire the Scout Report: Mercury item with insufficient Glimmer
• Fixed an issue where the word “Nightfall” was not prepended to new Curse of Osiris strikes in the Nightfall Director node
• Adjusted the functionality of Chest Reward Throttles
  • Players now receive reduced amounts of loot when opening large numbers of chests in quick succession, rather than nothing at all
• Cayde’s Stash chests now grant rewards via the loot stream to prevent items from disappearing into the ground
• Fixed an issue where cannons on Mercury were not functioning properly for PC players when they were playing at over 60 fps
• Fixed an issue that prevented the functionality of HDR settings for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro

Collections

• Fixed an issue where players with over 84 emblems were unable to see all emblems they owned within the collection screen

User Interface

• On player inspection, currency display is no longer visible
• Vendor waypoints are only highlighted when players have enough tokens to earn a reward
• Fixed an issue where some players could not interact with items when they had full inventory

Faction Rallies

• Players can no longer loot the same chest multiple times in quick succession for Faction Rally tokens
• Fixed an issue where Faction Rally tokens were not being removed at the conclusion of the event for some players
• Faction Rally emblems now display the correct pledge tracker stat
• Fixed an issue where Faction Rally tokens were being removed from players’ inventories when the players were creating a new character
• Fixed an issue where some players would not receive a Faction Rally winner discount

Masterworks

• Legendary weapons can now drop as Masterworks for characters above Power level 250
• Masterworks provide bonus weapon stats and generate Orbs on multikills

Engrams

• Legendary and Exotic Engram drop rates have been adjusted down for Public Events, and up for Strike and Crucible playlist activities
• Reduced the chance of a Legendary engram rewarding multiple Legendary items

Xûr

• Xûr now sells a three of coins consumable item that increases the drop chance of Exotics
• Xûr now sells the Fated Engram

Exotics

• Fixed an issue where Vesper of Radius, the Helm of Saint-14, Graviton Forfeit, and Gemini Jester were dropping with incorrect class mods
• Fixed an issue where the Prometheus Lens Exotic Trace Rifle was outputting too much damage too quickly
• Fixed an issue where Exotic weapons from Curse of Osiris were mislabeled within Exotic engrams

Gift Consumables

• Zavala now sells a Fireteam Gift consumable that provides rewards to the user’s fireteam on strike completion
• Shaxx now sells a Fireteam Gift consumable that provides rewards to all players at the end of a Crucible activity
• Tess Everis sells a Fireteam Gift consumable that provides rewards to all players on Strike or Crucible activity completion

Faction Vendors

• Faction vendors now offer legendary gear for direct purchase with Legendary shards and faction tokens

Crucible

• Added invisible physics to keep players from hiding in the Red Bay Box on the Pacifica map
• Adjusted Power Ammo locations on the Eternity map

Powered by WPeMatico

Blizzard has kicked off Overwatch‘s celebration of the holidays, bringing back the Winter Wonderland event from last year. This isn’t a complete retread, however; while you’re again able to access what was available last year, there are also new skins and a limited-time mode to check out, among other things.

As with any new Overwatch event, the skins are the big highlight. When Blizzard announced the event’s return recently, it teased that Junkrat and Roadhog would be among those to get Legendary skins, while a “long-awaited Hanzo skin” from the comics would also be included. Others with newly added looks include Sombra and Ana. You can see all the new Overwatch Winter Wonderland skins in our gallery.

This update includes a new, winterized version of Black Forest, along with the returning, holiday-themed versions of King’s Row and Hanamura. The Mei’s Snowball Offensive Brawl also makes a comeback (and is now playable on the themed Black Forest map), while Blizzard has introduced another new brawl that the studio has compared to a boss fight. Mei’s Yeti Hunt sees a team of five Meis compete against one player, who assumes the role of Winston with his Yeti skin. Things play out a lot like Evolve, where the Meis hunt down Winston, who roams the map to find power-ups. Once he collects enough, he enters Primal Rage mode, and the Meis have to flee to avoid being killed. Once enough Meis–or Winston–are killed, the game is over.

In a video, Jeff Kaplan explained that Blizzard wanted to try something “fun and different” with this mode. He said the point is “just to be fun and light and refreshing for a short period of time.” As such, Yeti Hunt is not intended to be a perfectly balanced, highly competitive mode. You can queue up for this through standard matchmaking or join a match with five other friends, with the game cycling through who plays as the Yeti. When queuing normally, you can set your preference for Mei or Winston, though given the mode’s nature, you won’t always get to play on the side you selected.

Winter Wonderlands is available from now until January 1 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It includes all of last year’s skins and content, and Blizzard has lowered their costs to make them easier to acquire. Legendary skins from 2016 drop to 1000 credits, Epic to 250, Rare to 75, and Common to 25.

Powered by WPeMatico

We’re now well into December, and this month has brought with it a new batch of free games for PlayStation Plus members. A total of six more games are now available for download to Plus subscribers, including a total of as many as four on PlayStation 4 (or five if you’re in Europe).

PS4’s lineup is headlined by Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition, a remastered version of the 2012 Zelda-esque action game. This version includes all of the original release’s DLC along with a variety of technical improvements. It’s free this month alongside Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends. A PSVR freebie from November, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, remains free throughout this month, and those in Europe can also pick up That’s You for free. Additionally, thanks to Cross-Buy, Forma 8 is available on PS4 in addition to Vita.

The PS3 side features Xblaze: Lost Memories and Syberia Collection, the latter of which is a compilation of the two Syberia adventure games. In addition to the aforementioned Forma 8, Vita owners can download Wanted Corp for free.

All of these games are available now for PS Plus members on the PlayStation Store. They’ll be free to download until Tuesday, January 2, when Sony will replace them with the next batch of freebies. Claiming these games allows you to play them as much as you want for as long as you have an active Plus membership.

In addition to the free game downloads, PS Plus subscribers receive some other bonuses this month. Plus members get exclusive access to the Monster Hunter World beta, which runs from December 9-12 on PS4. Later in the month, they’ll also receive the PlayStation Plus Pack for free-to-play game Smite, which consists of various characters, skins, and voice packs.

December 2017 Free PS Plus Games

PS4

• Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition
• Forma 8
• Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of the Legendary Legends
• That’s You (EU only)
• Until Dawn: Rush of Blood (PSVR)

PS3

• Xblaze Lost: Memories
• Syberia Collection

Vita

• Forma 8
• Wanted Corp

Powered by WPeMatico

It’s officially December around the world, which means Xbox Live Gold subscribers can now pick up the first of December’s free Games With Gold titles. Two more games are now available to download for free if you’re an Xbox Live Gold member, with another two set to arrive later in the month.

On Xbox One, Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide is free all month long, while Child of Eden is the freebie on Xbox 360. Note that this title plays on Xbox One through backwards compatibility, so you Xbox One owners can grab it as well.

Also note that one of November’s Games With Gold titles, Tales From the Borderlands, will continue to be free on Xbox One through through December 15. You can see the full Games With Gold schedule for December below.

In other news, Microsoft has rolled out the latest weekly Xbox One and Xbox 360 deals. A variety of games are on sale for Xbox Live Gold members in particular, including Unravel, The Jackbox Party Pack, and the Metro games. These will be available through December 11, while the Games With Gold title schedule varies, as outlined below.

December 2017 Free Xbox Games With Gold

Xbox One

• Warhammer: End Times – Verminitide (December 1 – December 31)
• Tales From the Borderlands (through December 15)
• Back to the Future: The Game – 30th Anniversary Edition (December 16 – January 15)

Xbox 360

• Child of Eden (December 1 – December 15)
• Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death (December 16 – December 31)

Powered by WPeMatico